Draft mechanism



Ban 5,3923. H. L. INGERSOLL F110@ may 22,

' view taken in the pla-ne of Aplane of line 2 2 of Patented HOWARD "L.INGERSLL, F WHITE; PLAINS, NEW YORK.

DRAFT MECHANISM.

Application filed May 22, '1922. Serial No. 562,832.

To all vwhom 1in/mag concern.'

Be itknown that I, HOWARD L. INGnRsoLL, a citizen'of the United States,residing at White Plains, in the county ofVVestchester and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Draftechanism, of which the following is a specification` This inventionrelates to draft mechanism for railway cars.

One object of the invention is to provide simple, durable and efficientdraft Incolla-V nism in which various parts thereof are per-` mittedproper cooperative' movements and meet the various requirements underservice conditions.

Another object is torprovide a. front fol; lower constructed tocooperate in an improved manner with the butt of the associated couplerwhereby a swinging movement of the coupler is facilitated and at thesametime to provide ini'the combination aselfcentering carrier iron formoving the coupler back into a central position when it has been movedtherefrom.

VAnother .object is-ftoV simplify the various parts and reduce thenumber of same.

These and other objects are accomplished by means of the arrangementdisclosed on the accompanying sheet of drawings, in which'- Figure 1 isa longitudinal Ysectional view through the' center sills of the car andshowing some of the draft mechanism in plan; y

igure 2 is asectional view taken in the Figure 1;

Figure 3 Vis a longitudinal sec-tional view through the coupler yoke andshowing the coupler in elevation; v

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the arrange-` ment shown in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a vertical transverse sectional line :l-5 of F1 ure 3;

igure 6 is 'a cross sectional view of the coup er butt;

Figure 7 is a diagrammatic View showing how the coupler is applied tothe yoke;

Figure 8-is a longitudinal vert-ical sectional view through the coupleryoke and showing the coupler keyed to the yoke by a vertical key insteadof lugs, formed on the coupler butt;

Figure 9 is a top plan view of that shown in Figure 8;

Figure 10 is al longitudinal vertical sec'- tional view through thecoupler yoke showing the coupler keyed to movable vertical key;

Figure 1l is a detail plan view rangement shown in Figure 10;

Figure 12 is a sectional View taken in the plane of line 12-12 of Figure ,1'1;

-Figure 13 is a side follower;

Figure l/l is follower; and Y Figure isa horizontal tra-nsverse"s ectional coupler butt.

The various novel features .of the invention will be apparent fromthe'following dea front elevation of the same vscriptionVanddrawings,vand willV beparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring first to Figures 1 to 7 inclusi-ve,I of the drawings, it willbe noted that the invention is disclosed in connection with a railwaycar having center draft sills 16 spaced apart and rigidly'held in .suc-hspaced relationship at a pointadjacent the bolster of the car by acenter or back-stop casting 17 which may be secured to the sills 16 inany suitable'manief"This'ljackstop iS p1`0- vided with a recessedportion 18 for the reception of the rear`of the draft yoke 19, the upperand lower arms 20 of which eX- tend forwardly and between their frontends receive the butt end 21 ofthe shank 22 of a coupler 23. A rearfollower 24 engages the shoulders 25 of the backstop 17 forlimitingrearward movement of such follower.

The butt of the coupler is provided with upper and lower key lugs 26 b vmeans of which of the arelevation of the front .615

the coupler is secured to the yoke. These Q5 key lugs are provided withlaterally extend ing projections 27 which, when in normal positionoverlap the yoke arms and preventthe spread of the latter.' In order toapply the coupler to the yoke itis necessary that the yoke arms beprovided with elongated openings 2S and that the yoke and coupler beturned ninety (90) degrees from their normal relative positions. so thatthe lateral extensions 27 of the key lugs 26 may pass through theelongated openings 28 in the yoke arms. Furthermore, to apply a coupler.to the yoke it is necessary that the yoke arms -be spread sufficientlyto permit the passage of the key lugs 26 and sions 27 between the yokearms.

Referring particularly to Figure 7, it will their lateral eXtenthe baseof thekey lugs 26.

be appreciated that as soon as the key lug projections 2T are inregister with the elongated openings Q8 the yoke arms will springinwardly or may be sprung inwardly to the point where the coupler andyoke may be moved into alignment. in which position the projections 2Toverlap the upper and lower associated yoke arms 2O and hold themagainst spreading. To add strength to the coupler shank and butt, thesame may be reinforced.. F or example, as shown in Figures It, 5 -and(i, the shank and butt are reinforced by a central web 29 which extendsalong the central line of the butt and forward to the shank, such partslthereby being generally strengthened and particularly at In Figure i5the coupler butt is shown reinforced in auother manner in which websfl.y3l and '32 radiate from the central portion of the butt toward thefsidesand rear, respectively. of the` coupler butt.

In Figures 8 and 9, a modification of the arrangement shown in Figures lto 7 iuclusive, is illustrated, in which. instead of providing a couplerbutt with integrally formed lugs 26 a vertical key 33 is provided'. Inapplying the coupler butt is placed between the yoke arms so that theopening 34 in the couplei butt registers with the openings 35 in theyoke arms 36. whereupon the key 33 is passed through the lower openingdriven through the opening 3a inthefcoupler butt and passed through theopening 35 in the upper yoke arm 36. whereupon the ends of the verticalkey are upset. pretei'ably to form lateral extensions 3T which overlapthe upper and lower yoke arms for preventing spread thereof. Assumingthat there is freedom of movement between the coupler butt and the key33. the upper yoke arm 36 is provided with a plurality of ribs 38between which the lug projections 37 extend for preventing rotation ofthe key 33. If the key were permitted to rotate it is conceivable that1t might move into a posivtion such that its lugs 8T would be inalignment with the elongated slots whereupon the yoke arms would be freeto spread under draft conditions. Of course other means, such as lockwashers and the like. may be applied for preventing the key lil fromangling from'its normal position.

In Figures 107 11 and 12 still a further modification is provided inwhich a reinovable key is used for forming the connection between thecoupler and yoke. This vertical key 39 prefer-abty is provided at itsuper and lower ends with lateral extensions 40 also which cooperate withribs 4l on the upper yoke arm 42 for locking the key in its operativeposition. These extensions i0. as in the other case, prevent the spreadof the yoke arms.

the coupler to the yoke In applying this key 39 are near the rear endsthereof or at least to" the reai of .the ribs il. After the key iscompletely passed through these openings A it may be turned through anangle of ninety degrees and moved forwardly into the position shown inFigures l() and il.

It will be noted that the rear end ot the coupler butt is provided witha convex siii'- facel5 (Figures l and 3,). which tits into acorrespondingly concave portion siti ot' the front follower et?. It maybe said that the front follower is cupped at i6 for the reception of thespherical portion i5 at the shaping the coupler butt and the frontfollower, the 'radial or lateral movement of the coupler in ahorizontalplane is greatly facilitated, therebeing the minimum resistanceconsistent with all other requirements.

In thisreoniiection, to 'facilitate the coupler f moving back4 into acentral position when it has been moved therefrom, the shank of thecoupler rests upon a pivotally mounted or swinging 'carrier iron 48which, Ias shown, is hung from or connected to the striker plate castingShy links 50. By thus having the coupler resting upon the swingingcarrier iron for automatically self-centering thg coupler.Yanthbyheffing the/rear portions" -of the coupler butt convexly shapedand 'cooperating with the cupped front follower, the swinging movement'ot the coupler is greatly facilitated.

,i If desired, the coupler butt may also bev provided with a horizontalkey-way 5l for use in connection with a draft gear requiring such a key.

It is my intention to cover all modifica tions of the invention fallingwithin the spiritand scope of the following claims.

I claim l( In draft mechanism. the combination of a yoke. a coupler,means for connecting said yoke-and coupler for a relative swingingmovement. the butt of said coupler having a rear spherically convexface. and a follower having a spherically concave face for receiving theconvex face of said coupler butt for facilitating relative swingingmovements between said yoke and coupler.

Q. In draft mechanism. the combination of a yoke` a coupler. meanscomprising only a key and elongated slot for connecting said yoke andcoupler for relative longitudinal i ing the convex face of said couplerbutt for tending projections which may pass through acilitatlng relativeswinging movement bethe elongated opening in one of said yokev tweensaid yoke and-coupler, and means for arms when the key 1s in a givenposition, 25 automatically centering said coupler. a and means on one ofsaid yoke arms for pre- 3. In draft mechanism, the combination ventingsaid key from accidentally moving of a yoke having arms with elongatedopenfrom a given operative position when placed ings therein, a`c0upler,the-buttof which is in such' position.

provided with an opening, and a key ex-' 5. In draft mechanism, thecombination 30 tending through said openings having of a, yoke havingarms with openings therein, meansv integrally formed. therewith at botha coupler having a rear convex face, rreans endsthereo' for preventingthe spread of the comprising only a key and said openings for4 yokearms, the means at one end of said key connecting `the coupler and yokearms, a

cooperating with portions of the yoke for front follower having aconcave face for 35 normally preventingsuch key from turning receivingthe convex face of the coupler butt when in normal operative position.for facilitating-angling of said coupler, and

4. In draft mechanism, the combination' means whereby said coupler buttis rein of yoke arms having elongated openings, vforced adjacent itspoints of connection with a coupler sha-nk having an opening, a key saidyoke arms.

40 extending through said openings and hav- Signed at New York, NewYork, this 12th ing means 'at both ends for preventing day of May, 1922.spread of the yokel arms, said meansat one and of the yoke comprisinglaterally exi HOWARD L. INGERSOLL.

